Know and list Your Product and Services

As a website visitor it is quite understandable that you try to find exactly what you want when you are browsing. It is a fair assumption that if what you’re looking for isn’t shown on the site then you’ll go elsewhere to try and find it. Occasionally you might use the search facility, even more occasionally you might fire off an email to the website owner to make an enquiry.

Website owners need to understand this behaviour of their website visitors. Take an example washing machine supply company that sells washing machines online. If a customer were to visit the website the site owner is pretty confident that they would find the ideal washing machine at a great price.

After running the site for a month or so the owner might be a bit confused by the customers’ average behaviour: Customers visit the website, look at details of a various machines and perhaps even add one to their basket … but then leave the site.

What the website owner has failed to realise – as many webmasters do – is that the customer is looking for further services and products to complete their wants and which they would expect to find from your online store. In our example they may want to see delivery, installation service options; perhaps even an option for you to take their old existing washing machine away.

The sting for the website owner – in addition to losing a customer – is that they may well already provide these services … they just aren’t shown on the website! Argh!

It is therefore very important that you understand and are able to list every single product and service that you are able to provide. Make sure you have a page for each one and direct potential customers to it so they know you do it … otherwise they will assume you don’t and simply go elsewhere.